Several well known Australian clothing brands have still not committed to protecting garment workers, according to Oxfam.

The announcement comes on the fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, where a building that housed production lines for several major clothing brands collapsed, killing 1,135 people.

Businesses that have still not signed the accord to protect garment workers include Just Jeans, Peter Alexander, Valley Girl, Temt, Best and Less, Myer and Country Road.

The world’s first total penis and scrotum transplant has been performed in the U.S at Johns Hopkins University.

A team of nine plastic surgeons and two urologic surgeons performed the 14-hour operation.

The patient is a US military serviceman who was wounded in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device several years ago.

Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan has resigned after over a week of thousands of people, including soldiers, protesting in the capital, Yerevan.

The eleven days of protests began after Sargsyan’s second term as President came to an end and he announced he would take on the role of Prime Minister.

This came soon after the constitution had been amended to give the Prime Minister more power and make President a purely ceremonial role.

CSIRO scientists have discovered plastics in the sediment of the Great Australian Bight, an isolated and biodiverse seabed area.

The scientists found the microplastics in samples taken from 2 kilometres below the surface, leading conservationists and scientists to call for reduced plastic use.

Dr Denise Hardesty, a research scientist at CSIRO, said this shows how ubiquitous plastics and human-made waste are in our environment.

Four community information sessions are on this week to update concerned Ipswich residents on a new landfill site and changes to a recycling plant.

From Thursday to Saturday, drop-in sessions will be held on the site of the pending landfill, capable of taking a million metric tonnes of waste per year.

Another meeting hosted by the group ‘Ipswich Residents Against Toxic Environments’ will run at Riverview community centre on Saturday.

Details:

-

On-site info session

The cost of powering Queensland schools has risen by $10 million over the last 2 years.

Queensland LNP leader, Deb Frecklington, said parents would prefer the extra $10 million was spent on children and helping teachers.

The government is now rolling out a $97 million program to include energy audits in Queensland schools and encourage teachers to turn the lights off more regularly.